Urgent Evoke

A crash course in changing the world.

Provide skills, not just finished technologies.

"Teach a man to fish..." may sound trite today but it is no less accurate. One of the largest mistakes made today is is the misconception that a person can solve another person's problem by himself or herself and then walk away to another issue. Although the intention is good there is a serious flaw in this mentality. Let's look at a common scenario (in Western Culture)

Mom cannot get the new movie player to work. Her son Jacob sees her frustration and researches the problem. He looks at the back of the Television and the player and sees that she just put the plugs into the wrong places. Mom can watch her movie and Jacob feels good that he helped, problem solved right? Well Mom moves the movie player into another room and runs into the same problem, but Jacob went off to college and she is now stuck again.

The solution that Jacob discovered was to move the plugs to the correct places. However the solution that his mother discovered was to ask Jacob. To put it into words the issue is that in simply providing the final product or outcome yourself, you become the solution. This is a problem because that means whenever you become unavailable, then the solution is lost to the people that need it, until you are available once again.

However in training the person in need so that they can come to the same solution as you makes them far more capable of handling future obstacles. Even better is the fact that in giving them the tools to your solution they can then use these same tools come up with their own solution.

The importance of a person or communities input in their own solutions can not be ignored as it has multiple benefits.

  1. Legitimacy of Solutions. It is natural instinct for many to be wary of or even reject solutions provided from an outsider. If they are not sure if they can trust you then how can they trust the "gifts" you offer. However when part of this product comes from the hands of one of their own then there is a sense of comfort and security in knowing that your community, which you are already a part of, has played a significant role in its development.
  2. Localized Influence. As the needs for communities often differ drastically from a different setting so to do the directions of innovation. If necessity is the mother of invention then it is only sensible to assume that the direction to which successful technologies grow follow the needs of a community. This makes community influence all the more vital to the success and efficiency of said technology, because the community knows its needs, habits, and problems from a first-hand perspective.
I am one who believes that the most important part of a task is the task. The error of providing the technology without the skills to maintain, alter, and improve it is bred of the misinterpretation of the task. It is interpreted that the need of the community is the technology when really the need is the knowledge and skill to be able to harness that technology. The knowledge is where the power to make change lies, and that is the really task, empowering people to make change.

Views: 15

Comment by Mita Williams on March 4, 2010 at 5:35pm
Hello Marcus - welcome to the network!

I like your example that you gave about mom and the movie player. "Using the VCR" is a classic
example of helplessness. I looked at it in a new light after reading a book called "The Social Life of Information" that asked why is hooking up a VCR so hard when driving a car is so easy. The author suggests that we can *see* other people driving cars but rarely do folks get to see other folks do things like set up a VCR.

But has this changed now in the age of digital video?
Comment by Marcus Tracy on March 4, 2010 at 6:17pm
Well as technology sprints ahead the trend of adjusting technology to the knowledge of the consumer continues to grow. What I mean is that companies are trying to take as much out of these processes as possible so that the end user can focus on just using the product rather than the nitty gritty of how it works. Like in this example it is immediately helpful but by destroying the demand for the knowledge to operate these things then so does the supply suffer.

We already do this, I know how to operate a car but I still need a mechanic to fix it. Compartmentalizing knowledge and specialization is a valuable resource but when does it go to far.
What is too complex? What is too simple?
It is a delicate balance and I am not sure one could provide a concrete answer but it is good to keep in mind.

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